S U R F AC E R O U G H N E S S T E R M I N O L O G Y AN D P AR AM E T E R S

Terminology Ra, Rq
Sampling Length, l, is the nominal wavelength used for separating
roughness and waviness. Also known as Cutoff Length or Cutoff.
Evaluation Length, L, is the length over which the values of surface
parameters are evaluated. It is recommended that the evaluation Ra Rq
length consist of five sampling lengths although it may comprise M
any number of sampling lengths. Also known as Assessment
Length.
Mean Line, M, is the reference line about which the profile
deviations are measured. The mean line of the roughness profile
is usually established by analog or digital filters with the selected
cutoff corresponding to the roughness sampling length. L
Profile Peak is the point of maximum height on a portion of a profile
that lies above the mean line and between two intersections of the
profile with the mean line Roughness Average, Ra, is the arithmetic average of the absolute
Profile Valley is the point of maximum depth on a portion of a values of the profile heights over the evaluation length.
profile that lies below the mean line and between two intersections RMS Roughness, Rq, is the root mean square average of the
of the profile with the mean line. profile heights over the evaluation length
Profile Irregularity is a profile peak and the adjacent profile valley.

Rp, Rpm, Rv Rt, Rti, Rz, Rz(DIN), Rmax

Rp1 Rp2 Rp3 Rp4 Rp5
Rt1 Rt3
Rt2
Rt4 Rt5

Rp

M
Rt M

Rv

l
l

L
L

Maximum Profile Peak Height, Rp, the distance between the
highest point of the profile and the mean line within the evaluation
length.
Average Maximum Profile Peak Height, Rpm, is the average of
the successive values of Rpi calculated over the evaluation
length.
Maximum Profile Valley Depth, Rv, is the distance between the
deepest valley of the profile and the mean line within the
evaluation length
Maximum Height of the Profile, Rt, the vertical distance between
the highest and lowest points of the profile within the evaluation
length.
Maximum Heights within a Sampling Length, Rti, the vertical
distance between the highest and lowest points of the profile
within a sampling length.
Average Maximum Height of the Profile, Rz, is the average of the
successive values of Rti calculated over the evaluation length.
This parameter is the same as Rz(DIN) when there are five
sampling lengths within the evaluation length.
Maximum Roughness Depth, Rmax, is the largest of the
successive values of Rti calculated over the evaluation length.

Rz(ISO) R3z
P1
P1
P2 P2
P3 P3
P4
P5

R3zi
h5 h4 h3 h2 h1

V4 V5
V3
V2

V1

Ten Point Height of Irregularities, Rz(ISO), is the average value of Third Maximum Peak-to-Valley Height, R3z, is the mean of the
the absolute values of the heights of five highest profile peaks third maximum peak-to-valley heights in the evaluation length.
and the depths of five deepest valleys within the evaluation
length.
 S U R F AC E R O U G H N E S S T E R M I N O L O G Y AN D P AR AM E T E R S

Pc Rsk
1 Peak 1 Peak 1 Peak 1 Peak 1 Peak 1 Peak
ADF Curve ADF Curve

M Sk 0 Sk 0

Mean Line Mean Line

Threshold Bands

Peak Density, Pc, is the number of SAE peaks per unit length
measured at a specified peak count level.
Note: An SAE peak (ANSI/ASME B46.1.1-1995) is a profile
irregularity wherein the profile intersects consecutively a lower and
upper boundary line.
Skewness, Rsk, is a measure of the asymmetry of the profile about
the mean line. A negative skewness indicates that a greater
percentage of the profile is above the mean line and a positive
value indicates that a greater percentage is below the mean line.

Sm tp
B-1 B-3
S1 S2 S3 Sn
B-2 B-4

Ref. Depth

M
Slice Depth
M

L L

Mean Spacing of Profile Irregularities, Sm, is the mean value of Profile Bearing Length Ratio, tp, the ratio of the profile bearing
the spacing between profile irregularities within the evaluation length to the evaluation length at a specified level.
length.

Rk, Rpk, Rvk, Mr1, Mr2, Rpk*, Rvk*, Vo

Rpk Rpk*
Additional Parameters
Rk
Kurtosis, Rku, is a measure of the peakedness of the profile about
the mean line.
Average Absolute Slope, a, is the arithmetic average of the
Rvk Rvk*

0 20 40 60 80 100 absolute value of the rate of change of the profile height

Mr1 Mr2 calculated of the evaluation length.

Core Roughness, Rk, is the core height of the profile along the Y-
axis of the BAC curve generated by placing a 40% line on the
curve at the minimum slope point and extending the lines to the
0% and 100% points.
Reduced Peak Height, Rpk, is the height on the Y-axis of a triangle
with the same area as the BAC curve from the 0% point to the Mr1
point.
Reduced Valley Depth, Rvk, is the height on the Y-axis of a
triangle with the same area as the BAC curve from the Mr2 point
to the 100% point.
Peak Height, Rpk*, is the distance between the highest profile peak
and the intersection line of the surface ratio Mr1.
Valley Depth, Rvk*, is the distance between the intersection line of
the surface ratio Mr2 and the deepest valley.
Retention Volume, Vo, is the area between the material ratio curve
and the 100% material line below the core roughness.
RMS Slope, q, is the root mean square average of the rate of
change of the profile height calculated over the evaluation length.
Average Wavelength, a, is the average wavelength of the surface
profile.
RMS Profile Wavelength, q, is the RMS value of the profile
wavelength.
Height Difference of Bearing Length Ratios, Htp, is the height
difference between two points on the bearing ratio curve set at
specified levels of tp, tp1 and tp2.
Terminology and Parameter Definitions are based upon the
American Standard ASME B46.1-1995 for Surface Texture and
the German Standard DIN 4776 for the Rk group of parameters .
3975-OP PARAMETER DEFINITIONS